You Can’t Ban History

Street artist Jaque Fragua, Jemez Pueblo, whom we last saw creating a mural in Miami with his American Indian Mural Krew,
recently beautified a plywood wall in downtown Tucson, Arizona. Fragua,
like many people, is concerned about the choices Arizona’s lawmakers
are making that seem increasingly hostile to minorities, whether they be
Latino or Native. The artist shared his thoughts on the work.

What was your vision for this mural?

Jaque Fragua: Like most of my murals, I don’t start with a preconceived visual
design. I just attack the wall with layers of paint and eventually the
vision will reveal itself to me, and to the public. This is what
happened in this mural.

Ok then, what was the inspiration for it?

Jaque Fragua: The inspiration comes from my frustration with Arizona’s continued
disappointing and preposterous political agenda, more specifically the
HB 2281 bill which has removed Ethnic Studies from our young leaders’
education. I feel the intent is to spread such an ignorant bill to other
states and if we allow this fire to spread, our communities will surely
suffer from a lack of the critical understanding of our peoples’ true
history and culture. Thus, I found a wall in downtown Tucson to
emphasize the need for this understanding and to combat the banning of
our people’s literature.

So armed with that inspiration, you attack the wall with paint—what is the end result we’re seeing here?

Jaque Fragua: Interestingly enough, the wall turned into something of a timeline of
colonization, or decolonization, with Columbus’ fleet charging the sea,
to present moment where people are reading banned books, to a Toltec
design which represents the visionary path to a healthy world, which is
the side where I began the painting.

And almost hidden among the characters and designs we do have
the letters “R – E – A – D”—its final message, then, is one of
education?

Jaque Fragua: Yes, and that brings up something ironic. The wall is surrounding a
construction zone where these developers are turning an old charter
school into a bar. I guess we still have a long way to go when the
masses value inebriation as opposed to education. However, I feel the
wall is serving its purpose.